


Fireworks

by DashFlintceschi



Category: Bring Me The Horizon, You Me At Six
Genre: Foursome, Incest, Josh has self esteem issues, Josh is blind, M/M, stupid amount of drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-17
Updated: 2014-09-18
Packaged: 2018-02-17 19:05:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2320151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DashFlintceschi/pseuds/DashFlintceschi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After moving to a new area, Josh, who's been blind since the age of 13, finds himself struggling with problems he never expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Started and finished in a day and a half, which includes about ten hours I was asleep. Honestly surprised, since I usually struggle to finish chaptered stories at all.

I curse as I whack my shin off of god only knows what for the third time this morning. I get that we had to move, but could my parents not have gotten a house that had the same general layout as our old one? You’d think they would take pity on their poor, blind son, but apparently not. I sigh in relief as I reach the front door, there’s nothing to bump into out here. I open my mouth to call out, but stop and smile as I feel a soft, furry head bump gently against my hand.

“Good boy, Cissy,” I praise him, taking a hold of the handle of his harness, which my dad had kindly put on before he left for work. Cisco’s my guide dog, a gentle, happy German Shepherd I’d gotten about seven months after the accident, and I’d be lost without him. Literally and figuratively. My mum always makes a disapproving noise when I called him ‘Cissy’, and I can tell she has a frown on her face to go with it, but I don’t care, and Cisco seems to like it, so I tend to ignore her. I pull my hood down over my face and sigh to myself, then pull open the door as I decide to just get it over with.

It’s a short walk to the Sixth Form college, a walk I’ve made dozens of times in the past week with my dad, to make sure I know the way, and that Cisco knows the obstacles he has to steer me around. I’m quite nervous about making the walk on my own, but I trust Cissy, and after a few minutes, I find myself surrounded by a moving mass of voices, so I figure I’m heading in the right direction.

I follow the crowd without a problem until I think I’m just about there, and Cisco jerks me to the side. I reach out to the right and realise he just stopped me from walking into a gate. I start to dig in my pocket for something to reward him, when a voice to my left catches my attention.

“I don’t think they’re going to let you bring a dog in,” a loud, confident, obviously male voice announces, and I turn towards it. I grin crookedly in the direction of the voice and pull my hood back enough to show my face.

“I think they’ll make an exception in my case,” I reply, not missing the gasps as I assume he and his friends take in the mass of scars around my eyes. I let my hood drop back over my face, give Cisco a treat, and turn to keep walking, but the same voice calls out again.

“I take it you’re Josh, then?” He asks, and I turn back to him with a frown.

“Yeah, why?” I reply, turning my head to follow his movements as I feel him come to stand beside me.

“My name’s Dan, they asked me to show you around for the first few weeks,” he replies, and once I get over the strong smell of cigarette smoke that hangs around him, I nod, then click my tongue to get Cisco’s attention.

“We’re following him, Ciss, alright?” I tell him clearly, touching Dan’s elbow as I speak, nodding to myself as Cisco nudges my other hand to let me know he understands. “Alright, lead the way,” I tell Dan, and he makes a small noise to himself as he starts walking. Probably nodded, then realised I couldn’t see it.

As we walk, I feel several others fall into step beside me, judging by the smell of smoke around them, I’d guess they’re Dan’s friends.

“Did you just call that clearly male dog ‘Ciss’?” The one on my left asks, and I laugh.

“Yeah, his name’s Cisco, not my fault the most obvious nickname is a bit emasculating, is it?” I reply, and he makes a noise of agreement.

“So, what happened to your eyes?” One of the ones on my right asks, and Dan huffs from in front of us.

“Max! You can’t fucking ask people that!” He insists, and I grin.

“It’s fine, I don’t mind, he is right, though, you should be careful in future,” I reply, and all four of them sigh in relief. “And to answer your question, a so-called friend aimed a lit firework at my face,” I add, and at least two of them wince at the thought of it.

“Sorry to hear that. What’s your locker number?” Dan asks, and I hum to myself as I try to remember, then give up and pull the folded up sheet of paper from my pocket. I can feel their confused eyes on me as I unfold it, but they seem to understand as I quickly slide my fingertips over the raised bumps on the page.

“37, thank god for braille printers,” I tell them, in case they don’t quite get it yet, and Dan laughs as he touches my elbow.

“In that case, I just so happened to stop right next to it, so just turn to your left and it’ll be right there,” he tells me, and I grin as I do so, lifting my hand to where the numbers are printed on the front of the locker in both numbers and braille. Once I’m sure I haven’t turned too far, I pull out my keys and open it, then take my maths and English folders from my bag and shove it into the locker.

“Any rules against wearing hoodies indoors?” I ask, hoping I’ll be allowed to keep it on. No-one seems to realise that even though I can’t see them, I can still feel them staring.

“No, though there’s a rule about keeping your hood up, but they’ll probably make an exception for you,” One of them tells me, and I nod.

“Here’s hoping. Are we going straight to first period, or what?” I ask, and I feel Dan move his arm as he hesitates, obviously checking his watch.

“We’ve got about five minutes, so we’d better move now, so I can help you get to your class before I go to mine,” he replies, and I frown as I follow him. I only agreed to let him help me because I thought we were in the same classes. If we aren’t, I might have to talk to the year head about getting a guide that doesn’t have to go out of their way to help me.


	2. Chapter 2

Unfortunately, every single teacher makes me take my hood down, so by the time I come out of my last class, I’m in a particularly foul mood. I’m surprised as Cisco stops, and the smell of cigarette smoke floats over to me.

“Hey, you want to hang out with us for a while?” It’s not Dan, I know that much, but it’s one of his friends, Max, maybe. I hesitate for a few seconds, I tend to keep to myself when I’m in this kind of mood, but I quickly decide that it might be a good idea to be around people that aren’t my parents, for once, and nod.

“Yeah, sure. Ciss, follow… Max?” I hedge, and he laughs.

“Yeah, Max. I take it you kinda sorta recognised my voice?” He confirms, and I nod with a grin.

“I knew you weren’t Dan, at least,” I told him, and he laughs again.

We meet up with the other three at the gates, and I can tell immediately from the smell that they’re all smoking.

“What’s up with your face? You look like you just got slapped,” Dan comments, and it sounds like he’s looking at me, so I assume he’s talking to me.

“Not slapped, just pissed off after a load of brainless bastards spent all day gawping at me like I’m a fucking circus attraction,” I grouse, and he makes a small sympathetic noise.

“Want a fag?” He offers, and I shake my head.

“Don’t smoke, thanks, anyway. Can we just get the fuck out of here?” I whine, and they all laugh and agree. 

I start to follow them, but panic slightly and freeze when I realise they’re heading in the opposite direction from my house. I haven’t been this way yet, so it’s a complete unknown to me. After a few seconds, someone touches my arm, and I sigh in relief.

“You alright, Josh?” Dan asks, and I nod.

“Yeah, I just… Can I hang on to you?” I ask timidly, and he hooks his arm with mine.

“Of course. Sorry, I should’ve realised,” he replies, either not noticing or ignoring the way my slightly shaking fingers clench around his sleeve. 

As we walk to Dan’s, I decide to make things easier on myself.

“Hey, for the next couple of minutes or so, would you guys mind saying your names when you start to say something? It’ll make it a lot easier for me to remember whose voice is whose,” I ask, and they easily agree. The rest of the walk there is just random chatter, and bitching about teachers. They quickly get the hang of tacking their names onto the start of their sentences, so by the time we get there, I can easily put the voices to the people.

Of course, as soon as I get the hang of one group of voices, a new group gets thrown in to confuse me. As we take our shoes off and dump our bags by the front door, Dan informs me that the other group of voices I can hear are his boyfriend, Tom, and his friends. As soon as we walk into the living room, Dan shushes them and asks them the same thing I asked of him and the other three. He reasons that I’m not getting rid of them anytime soon, and with them come Tom and his friends, so it makes sense for me to be able to place their voices now.

Once I’m settled on a couch, I unclip Cisco’s harness. I didn’t think it was fair for a guide dog to always be working, so I made sure he was trained to only be in ‘work mode’ when he’s wearing his harness. As soon as the harness is gone, he starts wagging his tail and flumps down onto his back to get his belly rubbed.

“Um… I was always told to never pet a guide dog, but…” Chris hesitates, and I grin. Once I’ve explained, I hear Chris drop down onto the floor beside Cisco and start rubbing his belly for him.

No surprise, as soon as I unclip Cisco’s harness in an unfamiliar house, I think of something that means I need my bag from where I left it at the front door. Luckily, though, as soon as I voice this thought, Tom asks Dan what my bag looks like, then gets it for me.

“You’re not doing homework now, are you?” Max asks incredulously, and I laugh.

“It’s not exactly homework. I’m taking A-Level Art, but the bitch of a teacher won’t let me into her classroom until I can prove that I can draw, despite being blind. Um… Would one of you mind volunteering to let me touch your face for a while?” I explain, hesitating on the question. It’s not exactly the kind of thing you ask a group of people you’ve just met.

Surprisingly, though, Tom’s brother, Oli, who’s sitting directly to my left, volunteers easily. I start with his hair, feeling the length and texture of it, and, though the few people I’ve told don’t believe me, in the past few years, I’ve realised that with hair, different colours have different textures. His is chin length, straight and smooth, and it feels dark brown. I start out with that, using the braille pencils that I spent months searching for. This way, I can feel where the previously drawn lines are, so I’m not just drawing over everything constantly.

Once I think I’ve got his hair right, I switch back to the black pencil and slide my fingers down to his forehead and eyes.

“Not too weird?” I mumble, focusing on my other trick that no-one believes. Eyes, in my experience, tend to be a certain shape depending on the colour.

“Not at all, kinda fascinating, actually,” he reassures me, and I jump as everyone else voice their agreement. I’ve gotten quite good at noticing when I’m being watched, but apparently, I’ve been too wrapped up in drawing to notice them watching me. I decide that his eyes feel almond shaped, which would make them hazel, and finish those quickly. 

I’m done sooner than I thought I would be, thanking Oli for his help as I lift my sketch pad from my lap and turn it to show them.

“So, how close did I get?” I ask, grinning to myself at the gasps and exclamations as they look at it.

“Fuck, I couldn’t draw him that well, and I can see him!” Tom laughs, and I can’t help but blush.

“I did alright, then?” I ask shyly, and he laughs.

“Alright?! I don’t know about getting that bitch to let you in her class, you should be fucking teaching it!” He insists, and I blush harder.

Once I’ve put my sketch pad away, we do the usual teenage boy stuff, until my dad phones me, letting me know that dinner will be ready in half an hour, and asking whether to expect me home for dinner. I tell him I’ll be home, and when I hang up, Oli immediately offers to walk me home. I’m not sure of the path, so I happily agree. As we start walking, I ask him if I can hang onto him, at least until we pass the college and I have a bit of a clue of where we are. He happily agrees, but rather than hook his arm with mine like Dan did, he takes my hand, lacing his fingers tightly with mine.

I start to get a little nervous, thinking he might like me, but then I internally scoff to myself. I may not be able to see myself anymore, but I can feel how bad the scarring is, and I’ve heard how people react to seeing my face for the first time, I know I’m not attractive, and there’s no way he, or anyone for that matter, will ever like me. We make small talk until we get to my front gate, and he hesitates for a few seconds, then kisses me gently. I jump to the only conclusion I can and push him away harshly.

“You think you’re the first one to pull that shit?! It’s not fucking funny, you cruel bastard!” I snarl, storming up the path and into the house. As the lump builds up in my throat, I start wishing I still had working tear ducts, so I can have a good cry to myself. I don’t though, so I can’t, so I settle for throwing myself into my dad’s arms and sobbing tearlessly instead. Some people really are absolute bastards.


	3. Chapter 3

When I leave the house to go to college the next morning, I frown as Cissy’s tail thumps against my leg and he starts rushing down the path. He never rushes me. When we get to the gate, I figure out why.

“Hey, Josh,” my frown quickly turns to a scowl at the sound of Tom’s voice. Without a word, I push past him and the four people with him, by their collective smell of smoke, I’d guess Dan, Max, Matt and Chris. The five of them fall into step beside me, much to my displeasure, and Dan loops his arm through mine.

“I don’t need your fucking help,” I snarl, trying to wrench my arm free, but he hangs on.

“I’m not doing it to help you. I’m doing it because you’re my friend, and I’m worried about you,” he insists, and I huff. Someone else presses in on my other side, gripping my elbow gently. He doesn’t smell as strongly of smoke, and there’s a hint of mint and something spicy in there, so I assume it’s Tom.

“He wasn’t fucking with you. He really likes you, and he’s really upset. He can’t figure out what he did to make you think that,” he murmurs, and I was right, it is Tom. I scoff and pull my arm free, mumbling an apology to Cisco and rubbing his head as he whines at being jostled.

“You can fucking stop. I may not be able to see, but I don’t need to to know that I look like a fucking monster, so just fucking leave it,” I spit, finally managing to pull my arm away from Dan’s and walking away from them as fast as I can.

I growl in exasperation as they rush to catch up to me, and Tom grabs my arm, pulling to make me stop. I turn to him and give him a poisonous glare as he sighs sadly.

“What the fuck would make you think that?” He asks, and I laugh harshly.

“I can feel how bad the scars are, and people’s reactions to them make it obvious that they look as bad as they feel. I might have been decent looking once, but I’m not now, and I’ve come to terms with that, so stop trying to convince me otherwise, just so your brother can get his leg over. It’s been done before. It wasn’t funny the first time, it wasn’t funny the fifth time, and it’s not funny now, so fucking stop it,” I hiss sharply, and when I storm away this time, they don’t follow.

Dan catches up to me when I’m at my locker. He doesn’t say anything, though, until I’m done sorting my stuff out, and even then, all he says is,

“Where to first?” He sounds upset, but whether that’s because he was in on the joke, or because he’s realised that he was a part of it without knowing, I don’t know, so I just mumble ‘Music’, and grip his elbow, letting him lead me there in silence.

The five of us stick to either awkward silence, or equally awkward small talk all day, and oddly, I appreciate it. Clearly, the only other thing they can think of to say is on the subject of Oli, so I’m quite glad that they’ve decided to just keep their mouths shut. None of us have any afternoon classes, so when the bell rings for lunch, the four of them meet me at my locker and try to convince me to come to Dan’s with them again. I know Oli’s going to be there, though, so I’m adamant that I’m not going.

It doesn’t matter, though, because when we get to the gates, the smell of smoke, mint and something spicy alerts me to the fact that either Tom, Oli or both are waiting for us. It turns out to be both. I hear Tom greet Dan as he moves to him, at the same time long, thin hands gently grip mine.

“You’re not a monster. You’re beautiful, scars included. I’m not fucking with you, I swear. I would never hurt you, and if I get the chance, I’ll fucking kill those bastards that did,” he begs, but I’ve heard all of this before, so I shake him off with a scowl.

“Yeah, sure you will. Come on, Cissy,” I mutter, tugging Cisco’s harness gently to get him moving. As I walk away, several people join me, Dan cuts me off mid-scowl, though.

“He’s not with us. Tom is though, but none of us are going to mention it again. We’re going to come with you to yours, and hopefully, you’ll let us stay for a while, because, either way, you’re our friend, who we intend on hanging onto for a while as a best friend, and you’re hurting. We’re not going to keep making you talk about it, no matter how wrong we think you are. We just want to cheer you up, and make sure you’re alright,” he insists, and I nod.

“Alright. I still think you’re wrong, but I’m pretty sure you’re not in on it with him, so sure, why not?” I hear Tom sigh and his arm slips around my shoulders.

“We’re not in on anything. I know people have done that shit like that to you before, and swore they were genuine, but I promise you, I swear on everything I hold dear, Oli is not one of those people. He’s my big brother, I grew up with him, I know him inside and out, and I _know_ he wouldn’t do that. He’s the sweetest, kindest, most genuine person I’ve ever met, he doesn’t have it in him. You don’t have to believe me, but at least think it over,” all I can do is nod, and true to their word, that’s the last we say anything about it, or Oli in general, for the rest of the day.

I can’t stop thinking about it, though, even after they leave. I damn near drive myself mad with it, and by the time I go to bed, I feel like I could cry. I could cry because, not only am I falling for a guy that might be fucking with me, but I’ve realised I’m falling for Tom and Dan, too.


	4. Chapter 4

The four of them are waiting for me at my front gate again the next morning. I can feel them staring worriedly at me as soon as I walk out the door. I assume I look as bad as I feel. I know my hair’s a wreck, and I probably have bags under my eyes from lack of sleep, and I felt like shit when I got up, so I’m wearing baggy joggers, an old, faded t-shirt, and an even older, even worse for wear hoodie. As soon as I get to them, I grab whoever’s closest and hug him as tight as I can, burrowing my face against his shoulder. The fact that he’s tall enough for me to do that rules out Max; the smell of something citrusy, maybe grapefruit; and the long, soft, slightly curled hair beside my face tell me it’s Chris.

He hugs me back just as tight without a question, his hand joining the three that are rubbing my back comfortingly. When I pull away, feeling a tiny bit better, he rubs my shoulder.

“Wanna talk about it?” He asks gently, and I shake my head, then hesitate and shrug.

“Can I talk to just you?” I ask timidly, and the other three laugh.

“We’re not going to get offended, J. We get it, sometimes you just need the one person to bounce off. Having four people throwing ideas and opinions at you can make things worse. We’ll walk on ahead, and you take as long as you need to talk with Chris, alright?” Matt reassures me, and I nod, smiling in thanks.

We’re quiet for a few minutes, then Chris tugs my arm as he loops his with it.

“Alright, they’re quite a bit ahead, give me your worst,” he encourages as we start walking slowly. I decide to just go for it and spill my guts, telling him everything, how I’m falling for Oli, but still terrified that he’s fucking with me; how I’m falling for Tom and Dan, and obviously that’s never going to go well; the anxiety over the whole situation in general, because I’d been so sure no-one would ever look twice at me, and I’ve come to terms with it to the point where I never expected to have relationship drama, ever.

I finish baring my soul as we get to the gates, where the others are waiting for us.

“Um, go on in, guys, we’re not quite done yet,” Chris tells them, sounding slightly stunned at just how much shit I have rattling around in my head. I hear them wander away, then he shuffles a bit and his lighter flicks, the scent of smoke quickly surrounding me. He’s quiet for a few minutes as he smokes, then he sighs. “You don’t do things by halves, do you?” He laughs softly, and I grin.

“Now, where’s the fun in that?” I joke, and he laughs.

“Alright, I’ve thought about it, and my answer to all of the problems you told me is the same. Just fucking go for it. Oli might be fucking with you, but all the evidence says he’s not. And even if it doesn’t work out for other reasons, at least you made a go of it. As for Dan and Tom, talk to Oli about it first, but still tell them, even if nothing happens, they have a right to know, Oli has a right to know, and most importantly, you have a right for them to know. You have the right to make your feelings known, you have every right to have those feelings. Even if they don’t feel the same way, or any of the three of them have a problem with it, you’re not going to lose Oli, he cares about you too much already; and you’re not going to lose Dan or Tom as friends, because they both already think of you as their best friend, and they won’t let themselves lose you over this. You literally have nothing to lose, so just _do it_.” I’m slightly stunned, but I nod in agreement. He’s totally right.

“Y-yeah. It seems completely obvious now that you’ve said it. I only have two classes today, so when I finish at eleven, I’ll figure out a way to get Oli to meet me, and I’ll talk to him,” I agree, and he throws his arm around my shoulders and leads me to our lockers, where the others are waiting for us.

“Dan, can you text Tom, ask him to get Oli to meet Josh at the gates at eleven?” He asks, and I swear I can hear Dan grin as his phone makes a quiet swooping noise, quickly followed by a chime.

“Done, and done, he’s standing right next to him, apparently. He’ll be waiting,” he tells us happily, and I gulp. I’m sure about this, no doubts, but that doesn’t stop me being nervous as hell.


	5. Chapter 5

When my maths class gets out at eleven, I feel ready to vomit from nerves. I still head straight to the gates, though. As soon as I get there, Oli’s there beside me, lacing his fingers with mine.

“You alright with going to mine, or d’you want to go to yours?” He asks softly, and I shrug.

“Yours is fine, anywhere quiet where we can talk in private is fine,” I tell him and he leads me towards the crossing.

“Alright, no-one’s in at mine, we’ll go there. I’m parked just across the road,” he tells me, leading me over. When we get to his car he opens the door for me and tries to help me in, but I immediately hold up my hand to stop him.

“If this is going to work, this is the first thing we have to get straight. Do not, under any circumstances, help me unless I ask for it, alright?” I inform him, and he shifts and sighs.

“Alright. But… I want to take care of you. Not because you’re blind, but because I care about you, I’d do it even if you could see,” he laments, and I sigh, motioning for him to get in the car. Once he’s gotten Cisco into the back seat, and gotten into the driver’s seat, I turn to him.

“Alright, I understand what you’re saying, and I know you understand my need for independence, so… Do what you’d do for me if I wasn’t blind, and if I feel like you’re smothering me, or taking away my independence, we’ll talk about it and work it out, ok?” I ask, and he sighs, in what sounds like a relieved way.

“Ok, I can do that.”

When we get to Oli’s, he takes my hand hesitantly and starts unsurely leading me to the living room. I can’t hold back the soft laugh as I squeeze his hand.

“This is the one bit of help I’m happy with. I’ve never been here before, I have no idea where anything is, so I’m really grateful for your help,” I coach him, and he laughs softly, taking a firmer grip of my hand and leading me more confidently to the couch.

Once we’re settled on the couch with tea, I turn to him and bite my lip.

“Ok, I want this to work between us, but I need to make my feelings clear before we start anything. I really care about you, I’m falling for you so damn fast, but I’m falling for Tom and Dan, too. I plan on telling them, either later today or tomorrow. I really want things to work between us, but I thought you deserved to know,” I rattle off quickly, holding my breath in the silence that follows. Finally, he takes my hands in his and squeezes gently.

“I’ll be honest with you. I’ve been in love with Tom for about two years. The revisions to the incest law hadn’t been made at that point, and by the time they were, he was already with Dan. At first, it was like I’d been stabbed in the heart. When it started to fade, I thought I was getting over Tom, in reality, I was just falling in love with Dan, too. I’ve just… Never had the guts to say anything. I’m happy for you to tell them how I feel when you’re telling them about how you feel. Who knows, we might end up getting everything we want. If not, I know we can make each other happy, so even if they don’t want anything to do with it, I think we could have something amazing.”

We talk some more, making sure we both understand what the other wants in this relationship, until two people come through the front door.

“Hey, it’s us, how’d it go?” Tom’s voice rings out from the hallway, just as he and, I’m assuming Dan, make their way to the living room.

“It went great, but now Josh needs to talk to both of you,” Oli answers, then stands up, squeezing my shoulder reassuringly, then wanders out of the room, leaving me to twist my fingers nervously as they come and sit on either side of me.

Before either of them can say anything, I blurt it out, how I’m going to make a go of it with Oli, but I’m falling for both of them, too; how I’d told Oli about it, and what he told me, emphasising that Oli had given me permission to tell them. When I’m done, all I can do is sit and twist my fingers again until one of them says something. It’s times like this that I despise being blind, I’d give anything to see their expressions right now, to have even the tiniest inkling of how they’re taking it. I’m so wrapped up in my panicking that I jump harshly when Dan speaks.

“Ok, that’s a lot to take in, so Tom and I are going to leave, we’re going to go to mine, and we’re going to process everything you’ve said, and talk about it, and we’ll let you guys know as soon as, alright?” He tells me gently, squeezing my arm comfortingly, squeezing a little tighter when I shake my head.

“No, not as soon as, you take your damn time and make sure that whichever decision you’ve made, you’re completely sure about it, and you both agree on it. We don’t want to be your biggest regret, so take your time and be completely positive about it before you even think about saying anything,” I insist, and Dan squeezes my arm again.

“Alright, we’ll take our time, then. Anything else you wanted to talk about, before we leave?” He asks gently, and I bite my lip.

“Whatever way this goes, I’m not going to lose either of you, right? You’re my best friends, I don’t want this to come between us,” I tell them shakily, and they both hug me tightly.

“I meant what I said, that first day. You’re never getting rid of us now, no matter what,” Dan insists, and I sigh in relief and nod.

“Alright, fuck off and go process, then,” I tell them lightly, and they both laugh, hugging me once more before they get up and leave.


	6. Chapter 6

It takes just less than a fortnight for them to make their decision. When they come looking for us, we’re lying on Oli’s bed, having a not-quite-argument. They catch the tail end of it as they walk in, Oli snapping at me as he gets up off the bed.

“Fuck it, it’s happening, whether you like it or not,” Tom clearing his throat makes us both freeze and turn towards the door.

“For some reason, I get the feeling this isn’t as serious as it sounds,” he comments, and Oli laughs humourlessly.

“Because he’s making a massive deal out of nothing. We’re arguing because he refuses to watch a film with me, because he doesn’t want the audio description to bother me, when I honestly could not care less. In short, we’re arguing because he’s being ridiculous,” he tells them, continuing on his path to the shelf full of DVD’s.

“I’m not being ridiculous! It bothers me, because I don’t think it’s fair for you to be distracted by the description when you don’t need it,” I argue, and Oli gives a long-suffering sigh.

“So, it’s fair for you to miss half the film because you have no idea what’s happening on the screen? It’s not going to bother me! I grew up with Tom, who, until he was about twelve, refused to stop talking through any and every film he watched. Trust me, I learned to block out stuff like that years ago, so just let me put the damn audio on, yeah?” He insists, and I sigh.

“Alright, fine, but only if you agree to turn it off the second it starts bothering you,” I bargain, and he sighs.

“Fine, but only because I know it won’t bother me,” he relents, and Dan clears his throat.

“Alright, if the domestic’s over, can we tell you our decision now?” He asks, an obvious smile in his voice, and I freeze. I hadn’t even considered that that might be why they’re here.

“Uh, y-yeah, of course!” I stammer, and they both laugh, coming over to sit on the bed with me, Oli joining us a few seconds later.

“So, when you first told us, we decided that we should take some time to figure out how we both feel, before actually talking about it. Turns out we’ve both been damn near in love with both of you without even realising it. When we started talking about it, we realised that the only problem either of us had with it, was that Tom was worried how your parents were going to take it. So, he phoned them and asked, as a hypothetical, obviously. Your mum just laughed and said she’s known for years, and they don’t have a problem with it, so now there’s no problem. So, what film are we watching?” Dan rattles off, and I can’t help but laugh.

“That’s got to be the best way anyone’s ever asked me out,” I giggle, and they laugh with me. Drama over, we settle down to watch the film, with the audio description on. I can’t help but quietly laugh at myself, it’s just so typical of my life. I convince myself that no-one’s going to be able to see past my scars, and I end up with three.


	7. Chapter 7

It’s been ten years, and we’re still together. Somehow, things have changed, without really changing. The biggest surprise has been that all four of us have managed a decent amount of success in fields that are difficult to get noticed in. About six months after we got together, Oli started a clothing line, Drop Dead, which at first, did ok, he really only needed occasional help from the three of us, now, he has a whole warehouse full of workers, and there’s almost constant demand for restocking; Tom’s one of the best, most highly acclaimed photographers in the business, he’s in constant demand, and after checking, he told us just last week, in a slightly stunned voice, that he’s completely booked up for the next three years; Dan’s an author, his fifth book was released last month, and shot to the top of the bestsellers list within a week, and it hasn’t moved from there since, he’s already got people begging him for the sequel, which he hasn’t even started yet.

I’ve become a surprisingly successful artist. The three of them keep telling me there’s nothing surprising about it, but I don’t mean it’s surprising because I doubt my skill, but because art is one of the hardest careers to become successful in. It’s been a lot easier since I had surgery on my eyes four years ago. It didn’t completely fix my eyes, in fact, I’m still mostly blind, but it’s helped, more so in my left eye. It’s made it so I can just about see what I’m painting or drawing, though, so there’s that. 

And the most important thing. Having the bandages taken off a week after surgery, and being able to see their faces. I never thought I’d see their faces, and they’re so much more beautiful than I’d ever imagined. They don’t believe me, just shrug it off and claim that I only think that because seeing them is a novelty to me, but I’m right. They’re beautiful beyond words. I have to laugh at the irony every now and again. They spent all that time convincing me I was beautiful, and now it’s my turn to do it for them.

I’ve admitted I was wrong, all those years ago. Now that I can kind of see the scars around my eyes, I’ve realised that they’re nowhere near as bad as they feel. They are still quite bad, but that’s a long-running argument for another day.


End file.
